Meghan Markle and Prince Harry helped “change the tide” in popular opinion against the Royal Family, a republican-supporting academic has claimed.
Lancaster University’s Dr Laura Clancy made a series of staggering comments about support for the Firm at Labour for a Republic’s fringe event in Liverpool on Monday.
Another panellist claimed it is “only a matter of time” before the UK opts to become a republic, with support for the monarchy plummeting among young Britons.
Dr Clancy, who penned Running The Firm in 2021, also argued that popular support for the royals dipped following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Prince Harry was joined at the ESPY Awards by Meghan MarkleGettyShe said: “There’s something quite interesting about having this conversation now, particularly after the Queen.
“Since the Queen died, I don’t know how everyone else feels, but I’ve never asked as many questions about royal wealth or funding, it rocketed.
“The tide is certainly starting to change with a King who is not as popular, who doesn’t have the same links the Queen had to World War Two and a very British sense of nostalgia that we seem to have.
“That is starting to change the discourse slightly. I think what has also changed the discourse is other things happening in the family. Harry and Meghan changed the conversation.
“They brought in questions about gender and race, which hadn’t previously been discussed. Certainly not to the level that they brought those questions in.”
Labour for a Republic, which eventually wants to end the UK’s status as a constitutional monarchy, is currently campaigning to extend the Equality Act to cover those working for the monarchy, increase transparency by including the Crown in the Freedom of Information Act, revisiting royal funding and modernising the oath of allegiance for MPs.
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Labour for a Republic held a fringe meeting on Monday
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The event was chaired by newly-elected Poole MP Neil Duncan-Jones.
Duncan-Jones urged Labour Party members to bring the constitutional argument back to local associations and trade unions in an attempt to kickstart “a proper discussion” about democracy in the UK.
Labour for a Republic shared a number of opinion polls suggesting the tide is turning against the monarchy.
One claimed that just 45 per cent of Britons support retaining the monarchy, with 33 per cent preferring an elected head of state.
However, a recent YouGov poll conducted in August revealed that 65 per cent of Britons support retaining the Royal Family, with just 25 per cent backing Britain becoming a republic.
YouGov’s poll tracker indicates consistently low levels of support for abolishing the monarchy since 2011.
Republicans totalled 20 per cent in 2011 and reached just 23 per cent in a meagre post-Megxit bounce.
Harry and Meghan were invited to Colombia by the Vice President Getty Prince Harry and Meghan Markle are among the least popular members of the Royal Family, only beaten by Prince Andrew.
Just 23 per cent of Britons hold a favourable view of the Duchess of Sussex, with 63 per cent holding a negative view.
Prince Harry’s net favourability stands at -30 per cent, while Prince William’s is strides ahead at 59 per cent.
The survey also showed widespread support for the Royal Family in general and the institution of the monarchy.
However, support for the Royal Family dips below 50 per cent among 18 to 24-year-olds and in Scotland.
Explaining why the UK will inevitably become a republic, Labour for a Republic’s chairman Nick Wall explained why anti-monarchists should be optimistic about the future.
He said: “Have a look at the age profile where the older you are the more likely you are to support the monarchy.
“If you map that with the older you are the more likely you are to support Brexit, the two things map entirely … I don’t have to spell it out to you, do I? It is a matter of time before we get there.”